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SHIFT MINERMonday 28th February 106 Edition 2011The Queensland mining community’s best source of local news

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Call 4944 2000www.macamiet.com.au

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NewsCalls for more police powers to stop tired drivers » page 4

NewsQueensland’s glowing safety record » page 4

NewsWhy the cost of freight is spiralling » page 5

NewsUltrasounds for drag lines? » page 7

News Rolleston’s wide load » page 6

Money mattersEmerald back in business after floods » page 19

Locally Owned and Operated - www.shiftminer.com

YOU’VE heard of office work-ers being sacked for using Face-book, but now social media is causing headaches at mine sites across Queensland.

While social networking sites have previously been the domain of the computer driven corporate world, the rising pop-ularity of iPhones puts Twitter and Facebook into the hands of those working in the field.

Just recently, Twitter sent the mining union, the inspec-torate and the police on a wild goose chase, when an unknown source tweeted that miners had died during an explosion in the Bowen Basin.

“I received a call from a TV journalist late in the after-noon, saying they had been monitoring Twitter and had just read there had been mul-tiple fatalities at an explosion at Peak Downs mine,” said the CFMEU’s Tim Whyte.

“I knew nothing about it so

quickly got on the phone, and no-one on site knew anything about it either.”

“The police were called out, and the inspectorate was also investigating what was going on.”

While there was an explo-sion at the mine, it was a minor incident and no-one was seriously hurt.

The bigger story was how authorities were notified.

“You’ve got to think it was someone [tweeting] on site, and with the strict rules about no phones and no phones on site this sort of action is virtually indefensible,” said Mr Whyte.

Shift Miner understands that two contractors at Oaky North mine have been moved on after they photographed themselves underground and posted the images on Facebook.

Those images eventually found their way in front of the mine’s bosses.

» continued page 4

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- Shift Miner Magazine, 28th February 2011

106th EDITION. 2011CONTENTS

SOCIAL media has taken the world by storm.

Most people know what it means to be poked on Facebook, and that you tweet - not twit - on Twitter.

You can now take photos on your iPhone and upload them to Facebook in the click of a button.

All this interconnectedness means that an individual in an isolated area can access an audience in seconds.

That audience can be enormous and international if the posting goes viral.

The trouble is, how do workplaces navigate and manage these new tools?

And it’s no longer a problem restricted to the corporate world - with social media increasingly accessible through iPhones to people in the field.

It’s a tricky situation.

Workplaces need to realise that

most people are only just starting to

understand the ways in which they

can use social media to communicate

- and in some cases make a loud point.

Employees need to realise that

if they want something kept private

they probably shouldn’t put it on their

Facebook wall or tweet about it.

At the end of the day, the mining

industry - like all other industries -

will need to draw up some guidelines

for employees so everyone knows

where they stand.

In the meantime, to quote the

CFMEU’S Tim Whyte: learn a lesson

from Shane Warne and stay off it.

FROM THE EDITOR17

Alex Graham

Serves 4

This dish is a slightly spicy take on an old Australian ‘Fish and Chip’ shop favourite. The spice in this recipe comes from the combination of paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, black pepper, cayenne pepper, oregano and thyme, that makes up the Cajun spice mix.

INGREDIENTS:

4 whole squid tubes¼ cup Cajun seasoning

Chopped parsley to garnishOil for deep fryingLemon wedge and a good quality tartar sauce or aioli for serving

METHOD:

Slice one side of the squid

the inside of the squid tubes

is facing up and point the tip of the tubes to the top of the cutting board. Slice about ¾ of the way through the squid tubes diagonally from top to bottom, both ways, to make a diamond scored pattern. Slice the squid tubes into 2cm strips, cutting from the tip to the bottom.

In a mixing bowl, combine the

together. Toss the calamari through until coated. Heat the oil in a large deep saucepan on a very high heat, until the oil starts shimming. Shake any excess

into the heated oil for no longer than 2 minutes, or till lightly golden. Remove from the oil and drain on paper towel before serving.

Place onto a plate to serve with a sprinkle of chopped parsley, lemon wedge and serving sauce of choice.

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12 STUFF TO THE EDITOR

13 FRANK’S LOVE ADVICE

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19 MONEY MATTERS

NEWS 5 Buy local

BMA sources from Bowen Basin

6 Help wanted Minister wants Qlders trained

8 Pike River QMRS recognised for role

9 Wandoan woes Town wants mine buffer

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MINER’S TRADER


106th EDITION. 2011NEwS

Wake up call for industryA QUEENSLAND Coroner has recom-mended a boost to police numbers in cen-tral Queensland to stop tired miners dying on the roads.

Coroner Annette Hennessy has handed down her findings into two separate crash-es in central Queensland that both involved miners driving home after long shifts.

While she found fatigue was a factor in both cases, bad weather was identified as the main reason for a crash that also claimed the life of a police officer near Yeppoon in 2005.

The other crash was a single vehicle accident near Dysart two years ago.

The Coroner has also recommend-ed police be given more power to pull over drivers who are suspected of being fatigued, and that a new fatigue-specific driving offence be established - much like current drink driving laws.

Ms Hennessy has also recommended

mining companies fully explore ways to control, reduce or eliminate their workers driving home tired after their shift - and for the industry to do targeted research into shift work and fatigue.

The Queensland Resources Council (QRC) has already vowed to continue its work with unions and the government on the issue of fatigue.

“We will carefully consider all the rec-ommendations made by the coroner to see what more we can practically do to improve the safety of employees as they travel to and from their work places,’ said the QRC’s Michael Roche.

He said the industry’s goal of zero harm extended to getting employees safely to and from work.

“Many mines provide buses to and from mine sites and encourage their employees to use them instead of private transport.”

One of the pictures even had the two min-ers standing in front of the very sign that advised it was prohibited to use non - approved electrical devises in that area of the mine.

In another incident, a mine worker used Facebook to discuss how to get rid of an employee who’d been involved in an on site safety breach.

Truck driver Harold Pratt was formally rep-rimanded for driving too fast on a wet haul in December, but he was shocked to discover the incident was being discussed on Facebook.

“I know I did the wrong thing, and I wore the punishment for that,” Mr Pratt said.

“But this is different, he has slandered me and breached confidentiality and I don’t want it to happen to somebody else.”

“It has been really upsetting, mining is a tight-knit community and everyone talks.”

Most mining companies are yet to draw up guidelines for employees regarding social media - although phones are generally banned on site.

The CFMEU’s Tim Whyte said workers needed to be careful.

“We have seen it in the corporate world where workers have been dismissed because of inappropriate comments on Facebook.”

“This is the same but with a wider inter-national audience.”

“Some people might have a rush of blood or want to stir up the pot, but they might not realise the full implications of their actions.”

“Seriously, they should learn a lesson from Shane Warne and just stay off it.”

THE latest statistics show Queensland has one of the safest mining industries in the world, according to the government and industry.

The 2009-10 snapshot of safety across the state’s mines and quarries shows improve-ments across nearly all key measures.

The most comforting was a drop in the number of fatalities, with one recorded dur-ing the year compared with four industry fatalities during 2008-09.

Work-related injuries also fell in terms of severity, duration and days lost to injury.

Medical treatments dropped from 924 to 546 injuries while lost times injuries fell

from 301 to 285 injuries. There were 413 disabling injuries, down

from 417 the previous year.Most dramatically, there was a huge

fall in the most important indicator - the lost time injury plus disabling injury dura-tion rate - which fell from 41.4 days to 28.1 days per injury.

The number of high potential incidents rose from 1022 t0 1751, but authorities say that demonstrates better reporting rather than a higher rate of incidents.

The mines inspectorate has ramped up its presence on site, with inspectors conducting

nearly four times as many audits (243) com-pared to the previous year (65), and the number of inspections jumped almost 30 to 1535.

The Queensland Resources Council’s chief executive Michael Roche said while the figures were comforting, the industry would continue to aim for the goal of zero harm.

“We will continue to work with the gov-

ernment and unions toward this goal.”The upcoming industry health and safe-

ty conference in Townsville will this year examine the ageing workforce how to safe-ly integration new comers into the industry over the next decade.

The full report is available online at: www.dme.qld.gov.au

Stats highlight safety success across Qld

“The Coroner has also recommended police be given more power to pull over drivers who are suspected of being

fatigued, and that a new fatigue-specific driving offence be established - much like current drink driving laws.”

FROM PAGE 1

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MERCY HEALTH and AGED CARECentral Queensland Limited

“Work-related injuries also fell in terms of severity, duration and days lost to injury.”

Mines all a-Twitter

Do you own an Apple iphone with internet access?Yes - I have one SMS 10304 to 0412 055 255No - but I am going to get one SMS 10305 to 0412 055 255No - I have another internet enabled phone SMS 10306 to 0412 055 255No - I don’t want an internet enabled phone SMS 10307 to 0412 055 255

Should you be able to take your phone to work?Yes - I always take my phone to work SMS 10301 to 0412 055 255Yes - but I don’t currently take it SMS 10302 to 0412 055 255No - phones should not be allowed on site SMS 10303 to 0412 055 255

HAVE YOU YOUR SAY IN THE MINER’S POLL


106th EDITION. 2011

Emerald network shelvedThe establishment of an organised mining services hub in Emerald seems unlikely, with plans for a Central Highlands business network now shelved.

It had been hoped the network would help its members service the mining sector, similar to other industry networks like MAIN in Mackay and the GEA in Gladstone.

The Emerald Chamber of Commerce said government funding never arrived, and local businesses were too busy managing their own affairs......................................................................

Tinkler back in MiddlemountSelf-made mining magnate Nathan Tinkler has returned to where his business career began by spending $30 million to buy two exploration permits for coal near Middlemount in the Bowen Basin.

Using one of the investment companies he controls - Boardwalk Sienna - Mr Tinkler bought the Sienna and Electra permits from Norton Gold Fields.

Norton is the same company looking to re-develop the Mount Morgan gold mine, west of Rockhampton.

Exploration at the two Middlemount sites is still at the very early stages, however Norton says there is an ‘inferred’ resource of around 57 million tonnes of coal in the two deposits.

Mr Tinkler shot to fame in 2009 when he topped the Australian BRW Rich List for people under 40; at the time his personal wealth was estimated at $441 million......................................................................

Macarthur profits despite slashed productionDespite announcing coal production will be slashed by 20 per cent this year, Macarthur Coal has managed to deliver a half yearly profit of around $140 million.

So how do you slash production and increase profit?

Well in this case, it is a question of timing since the profit results apply to a production period that ended in December - before the worst of the wet weather.

The complete effect of the wet weather on profits will not be felt until the company completes its full year results.

Also adding to the strong December result, Macarthur Coal sold a 20 per cent stake in its Middlemount mine to Gloucester Coal for $97 million.

Macarthur counted $30 million of that sale in its half yearly figures.

FAST NEWS

NEwS

SMALL businesses in the Bowen Basin could snag more mining work, with BMA launching a new local buying program.

Information sessions will be held in Dysart, Blackwater, Emerald and Moran-bah this week to outline the opportunities that exist under the new program.

The program aims to give small busi-nesses a go at supplying competitive goods

and services to BMA and BHP Mitsui Coal (BMC) operations.

“BMA is looking to work with these businesses and ensure that the townships benefit directly from the program,” said BMA president Stephen Dumble.

“The program also seeks to pro-vide further benefits to the town-ships over the longer term by helping

to build local business capability.” The program will apply to small busi-

nesses only – businesses with fewer than 15 full time employees – based in the towns of Blackwater, Emerald, Moranbah and Dysart.

It has been developed following feedback from small businesses in those communities.

The information sessions will be held at the following times:

Small business offered more of mining pie

QUEENSLAND trucking companies have raised freight rates by as much as 60 per cent as they struggle to survive a disastrous summer of floods and cyclones.

Followmont Transport notified its cus-tomers this week that freight prices would be bumped up by 19 per cent for goods being trucked from the south-east cor-ner to far north Queensland - specifi-cally Townsville, Cairns, the Cassowary Coast and Mossman.

“Cyclone Yasi has destroyed many of the produce crops in far north Queens-land,” the company said.

“Followmont relies on back loading of line-haul vehicles with this produce to provide sustainable transport rates for freight from Brisbane to the far north of Queensland.”

“Without this return freight there will be a significant cost impact in servicing the region from Townsville to Cairns.”

Followmont said it hoped to be able to reverse the increase within six to eight months when cropping areas had started to recover.

Queensland Trucking Association CEO, Pert Garske, told the WINO the wild weath-

er had hammered the trucking industry.“From discussions I have had this week,

I know that some trucking companies have had to increase their freight rates from between 40 and 60 per cent,” he said.

Mr Garske said refrigerated trucks were the worst hit sector, and those business-es - both large and small - that are locked in to the southern food bowl region and the tropical north.

He said it would be six to eight months before those communities have produce to deliver to market.

“The companies that are geared for that type of task have no freight and they have hundreds - or in the case of Lindsay Brothers - thousands of trucks with nothing to carry.”

“They are having to take the trucks off the road.”

“They don’t want to lose their customers, and they want to retain their drivers, so they have got this dilemma, how do we retain

their people and keep the business going?”To compound the situation, for many

it’s a case of history repeating.Freight rates escalated after cyclone

Larry for the same reasons; in that instance, they returned to normal after about eight months.

Road freight costs spiral

“I know that some trucking companies have had to increase their freight rates from between 40 and 60 per cent.”

WHAT CAN YOU LEARN FROM A

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W E D N E S D A Y ’ S I N D U S T R I A L N E W S O N L I N E

NEWS YOU WON’T GET ANYWHERE ELSE

Emerald Date: 28 February 2011 Location: Mayfair Ridge Tavern, Conference Room Time: 12:00pm - 1:30pm

Dysart Date: 1 March 2011 Location: Country Road Motor Inn, 57 Queen Elizabeth Drive Time: 7:30am – 9:00am

Moranbah Date: 1 March 2011 Location: Moranbah Workers Club, Isaac Room Time: 5:30pm – 7:00pm

Blackwater Date: 28 February 2011 Location: Blackwater International Coal Centre, Cinema Room Time: 7:00am – 8:30am


106th EDITION. 2011

HOW long does it take to move six 220-tonne dump trucks from Brisbane to cen-tral Queensland?

Three months, when your scheduled delivery date coincides with Queensland’s worst natural disaster.

The NQ Group has been trying to deliv-er the six Caterpillar 793s to Xstrata’s Rolleston mine since November.

“Back then, we had four trucks parked up on the side of the road at Kabra [west of Rockhampton] for three weeks waiting

for the roads to reopen after the rain,” said operations manager Darren Jones.

“We ended up taking them to Rockhamp-ton and with the help of Hastings Deering unloading them so they could dry out.”

But yesterday, a massive convoy of 12 prime movers carrying $35 million worth of machinery and escorted by a host of police cars made it safely into Rolleston.

The logistical feat was made possible by the hard work of Main Roads, the police, the NQ Group, Xstrata, Hastings Deering and QR.

Road closures and weight limits meant a direct route had to be abandoned for a much longer journey from Brisbane to Mackay through Moranbah into Emerald and out to Rolleston.

“I tell you, it is a relief this has been drag-ging on since November and it has been our first priority,” said Mr Jones.

“At the moment we have to snatch any win-dow of opportunity to move stuff and fast.”

“It would not have made sense to do 12 separate trips because at any time it could start raining again and it was useless to only have part of the delivery at the mine.”

Mr Jones said the delivery was crucial to all involved.

“It’s all just a big chain reaction in terms of cash flow.”

“Xstrata want the trucks to start mining and making them money, Hastings want the trucks digging so they get paid, and I want the trucks delivered so I have money in the bank.”

“My drivers are keen to get out there and earn a buck because they have suffered too over the past few months.”

Mr Jones said it was just the beginning of a backlog of work that will take months to clear.

“Normal is still a long way off so it will be crazy for some weeks, and the weather reports don’t make you feel very confident.”

“We have to get in and move things while we can - so I’ve told the boys give your mum a kiss goodbye and tell her you’ll see her at Easter!”

The Rolleston mine has been unable to get coal to port since January, because of extensive damage to the rail system.

A spokesman said the mine did not expect to be able to rail coal to port until the end of the month.

NEwS

As Gladstone’s third LNG play lines up...Mines minister wants Qld first in mining jobsAUSTRALIA Pacific LNG (APLNG) has become the third LNG project in six months to get the green light for Gladstone.

The Federal government yesterday granted environmental approval for the project, which is a joint venture between Origin and ConocoPhillips.

The project includes building a 450-kil-ometre pipelines from the Surat Basin, and the construction of a multi-train LNG facil-ity on Curtis Island.

Just a week into his new role as Queens-land’s mines minister, and Sterling Hinchliffe has told Shift Miner that pro-viding skilled labour to new and expanding resources projects is the biggest challenge the industry faces.

While the federal government is looking

at introducing a specific visa for the min-ing industry, Mr Hinchliffe said his priority would be for Queenslanders to come first.

“We have a 5.7 per cent unemployment rate here in Queensland so we want to make sure those people have a chance to get some of these jobs.”

Mr Hinchliffe is also in charge of the employment portfolio, and said more needs to be done in terms of skilling up the workforce.

“I don’t live in a utopia, we have to do a better job of ensuring we can meet the future needs of the industry,” he said.

“My strong commitment is about doing the smart thinking and making the progres-sive changes that we need to ensure our training sector is responding.”

“We have a 5.7 per cent unemployment rate here in Queensland so we want to make sure those

people have a chance to get some of these jobs.”

“At the moment we have to snatch any window of opportunity to move stuff and fast.”

Rolleston’s massive convoy relief



Red & blue hats in vogue at Hail Creek

HAIL Creek miners are seeing red... and blue, thanks to employee Tania Johnson’s novel idea to raise money for cancer services.

Ms Johnson said her personal experi-ences motivated her to approach the mine with the idea for them to purchase red and and blue helmets, which employees would donate $20 to wear.

“Originally, it was only going to be pink helmets to raise funds for breast cancer but one of my colleagues suggested we include blue helmets to raise funds for prostrate cancer too,” she said.

It was an idea that Rio Tinto’s Hail

Creek mine general manager operations Andrew Woodley was happy to support.

“One of our company objectives is to contribute to the communities where we operate so it’s great to see our employees go a step further and start creating their own ways to give back.”

“A third of our workforce participat-ed in this initiative, which is a great result and shows that our people are highly active when it comes to supporting their local community,” Mr Woodley said.

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New research using ultrasound technology could revolutionise drag line maintenance, slashing costs and delivering significant safety benefits to mining.

The Australian Coal Association Research Program (ACARP) has found sig-nificant cost savings are possible by applying ultrasound technology to the maintenance of wire ropes used on drag lines.

For around 20 years, testing of wire ropes

has been done using x-ray technology, which due to its radiation risks requires the site to be cleared and causes significant lost pro-duction time.

However, in a trial carried out by Bureau Veritas, an ultrasonic wave was sent down the wire rope, and any imperfections or defects sent back a small echo.

The research revealed that if you had a 100 strand wire rope - the technology could detect if just 8 wires were damaged, and this increases proportionally as the size of the rope increases.

Bureau Veritas researcher Adam Van Dyck said the technology could revolution-ise the industry.

“Replacing x-ray radiography with ultra-sound solves a lot of the safety issues that surround radiation from using x-rays,” he explained.

“Also the down time for a radiography shot is long, and this is potentially much faster.”

“Although I have to stress this is very early days and the research is far from complete, it still needs to be field tested and there remains a lot of unknowns to be resolved through future research.”

There is money available through ACARP for more research into the technol-ogy and Bureau Veritas said mining compa-nies had already volunteered to field trial a prototype.

No final decision on where the trial will take place has been made.

Drag-lines line up for an ultrasound

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“Replacing x-ray radiography with ultrasound solves a lot of the safety issues that surround radiation from using x-rays.”


106th EDITION. 2011

AFTER more than two months working to stablise New Zealand’s Pike River mine, the Queensland Mines and Rescue Service (QMRS) team has returned home.

More than 30 QMRS workers rotated around the clock to play their part in sta-bilising the mine, which killed 29 men in an explosion last year.

It took them away from family and

friends over the Christmas and New Year period, and in all cases mining companies gave them a leave of pass to help on the painstaking assignment.

Last week, the Isaac Regional Council recognised their efforts with an Australia Day award presented to them in Dysart.

“It was a great honour for them to be recognised for their hard work, and just

how enormous this job has been,” said QMRS state director Wayne Hartley.

The GAG unit used to stablise the mine will also be flown back to Queensland in the next month.

“We will send a few people over there next week in order to prepare the jet engine and equipment so it can be brought home,” Mr Hartley said.

The mine is now being monitored by Pike River Coal, which is in the hands of adminis-trators Pricewaterhouse Coopers (PWC).

A massive fault line runs through the mine, but last week’s earthquake is not believed to have destablised the site.

“At this stage the earthquake doesn’t seem to have had any effect at the mine,” said PWC’s John Frisk.

If the mine site is considered safe enough for personnel to re-enter the drift, QMRS expertise could again be called on.

“I think there is a high possibility of enter-ing the drift, and once they get to the end of that which is 2.5 kilometres they will most likely send robots in to try and get a visual with cameras to see if there is any possibility of entering the mine,” said Mr Hartley.

“We have not been asked to be involved at this stage, but New Zealand is certainly going to need the resources of outside agencies to help.”

A broadband black spot that has plagued a new housing estate in Moranbah for six months could soon be fixed.

Telstra has contacted residents in the Isaac Views Estate to let them know the black spot will be cleared and 384 broadband connections set up by the end of March.

Residents have been campaigning for months, but Shift Miner understands a sub-exchange and backhaul needed to be upgrad-ed before the service could be provided.

“As more and more people became frustrated with the lack of broadband service, the issue regained momen-tum,” said one resident who did not want to be named.

Telstra has confirmed in correspond-ence with the resident that it expects to be able to provide broadband services to the estate by the end of next month.

Currently, 62 families live in the estate, but stages three and four are currently being built.

The Telstra missive said the upgrade would mean it could cater for the exist-ing demand for ADSL [broadband] and

provide capacity for future services as the remaining stages of the estate come online.

However, the telecommunications giant has flagged that many of its resources are tied up in cyclone and flood relief work in other parts of the state.

It will let residents know if the Moran-bah upgrade will be delayed as a result.

QMRS boys recognised for Pike River work

NEwS

EFFORTS RECOGNISED: Isaac Mayor Cedric Marshall presents the award to QMRS’ Wayne Hartley and Clive Hanrahan

Broadband on the horizon for Moranbah estate



AN Airlie Beach resort has slashed $14,000 off its electricity bills by adopting simple energy saving strategies.

The manager of Blue Horizon Resort, Alicia Wood, said when they took over the business they changed basic staff proce-

dures to drive down costs.“Basically, before we started here, noth-

ing was every turned off,” she told the WINO.“We brought in new standard procedures

that included making sure lights and appli-ances were all turned off, we installed motion

sensors on our external lighting, changed the light globes to energy saving globes and put a timer on a gym air conditioner.”

Blue Horizon was one of 30 businesses in the Mackay and Whitsunday region to be involved in the Queensland government’s ClimateSmart business cluster program.

The program is now targeting any busi-nesses between Sarina and Bowen - and particularly those in the Paget industrial area of Mackay - to come on board.

Participants can expect to lower their elec-tricity bills between five and 25 per cent, accord-ing ClimateSmart coordinator Jane Tuner.

“We will come out and do an audit of your workplace, and most of the changes are simple ‘low cost or no cost’ behaviour-al ones like switching off lights and chang-ing globes,” said Ms Turner.

Ms Turner said while the immediate benefit is the cost savings, in the long term lowering emissions could be a vital part of doing business.

“In the future it could be a big advantage because businesses might find they need to

to have these environmental tick offs before they get onto tender lists.”

“While it is voluntary at the moment it certainly looks like the way things are going is for this to become regulatory and if you are on board now you are ahead of the game.”

Ms Wood has encouraged all local busi-nesses to join up - and said from her experi-ence, including staff in the process was critical.

“We had staff meetings and asked for input and our reception staff and cleaners really got a kick out of seeing their ideas implemented.”

“It gave them ownership of the project and helped build a passion for it - and while we didn’t hand out cash bonuses to staff, the money we saved meant we could buy new cleaning equip-ment like vacuum cleaners for our cleaners.”

“We are still having conversations about it, and one of the best things is that some of these new practises from the workplace are now being applied in their homes.”

The program costs $275 and involves an audit and three workshops.

Interested businesses can contact Jane Turner on 0400 385 603 before 15 March.

Wandoan mine deadlock

WANDOAN residents could take mining giant Xstrata to court, it the company does not agree to a two-kilometre buffer zone to keep mining away from the town.

Xstrata has released its social impact management plan for the massive Wandoan project, and stakeholders have until the end of February to provide feedback.

Residents are concerned about how close to town Xstrata will be able to mine - and that noise, dust, and other mine-generated pollu-tion will destroy the livability of the town.

According to Community Refence Group president Bill Blackley, the current plan would see mining occur just 600 metres from some homes.

“The biggest problem that we are fight-ing is to maintain a two kilometre exclusion zone around the town, and we haven’t been able to get that,” he said.

“We have a Co-ordinator General’s report that gives draft approval for mining to take

place two kilometres from the centre of town.”“That equates to 600 metres from the

residents on the edge of town.”Mr Blackley said residents wanted the

exclusion zone to begin at the outskirts - and not at the centre.

“Even two kilometres from the edge of town might not be far enough away to maintain livability, but we looked at the plans for when all the pits would be and set-tled on that distance.”

“We want to maintain the future of Wan-doan, and people are already saying they will move if there is mining that close to town, people have said that already.”

Mr Blackley said taking Xstrata to the mining court would be the group’s last option, and would be very difficult for a small community like Wandoan to fund.

However, Mr Blackleysaid the group was exploring options for how they might get assistance for funding such a legal challenge.

Dysart changes spark debateDYSART residents have lodged objections to two residential development projects cur-rently before the Isaac Regional Council.

CFMEU-sponsored community advo-cate Jim Pearce said the developments would add to the overall number of single person quarters in the town.

“As I understand it, the development application for Jacaranda Place is to replace the commercial premises with two-storey residential units that will then be rented or sold back to the mining companies,” he said.

Also before the council is a proposal by BMA to removal 13 existing houses and build new ones.

The mayor, Cedric Marshall, said all aspects of the developments would be considered.

“The applications propose change to the balance of local industry and must there-fore be assessed carefully with respect to

the Sustainable Planning Act and the orig-inal town planning scheme,” he said.

Council has commissioned well-known KPMG consultant and demographer Ber-nard Salt to carry out a ‘social and econom-ic study’ to look into how much growth Isaac’s communities can handle and what kind of infrastructure is needed.

Councillor Ann Crawford said it was important residents had their say about the town’s future.

“We encourage community members to take an interest in important development projects as the outcomes from community engagement can inform our long-term com-munity planning,” she said.

“Making sure we get it right is of great importance as the strength and sustainabili-ty of communities like Dysart is essential to the health of the region.”

“In the future it could be a big advantage because businesses might find they need to to have these

environmental tick offs before they get onto tender lists.”

How many $k can you save changing a light bulb?

“Council has commissioned well-known KPMG consultant and demographer Bernard Salt to carry out a ‘social and economic

study’ to look into how much growth Isaac’s communities can handle and what kind of infrastructure is needed.”

“Even two kilometres from the edge of town might not be far enough away to maintain livability”



Floods push transport hub to top of pile

THE recent floods which cut Rock-hampton to the south and west should cement the need for a central Queens-land inter-modal transport hub - according to its backers.

For the past six months, business lead-ers have met to push for a transport hub to be established on the outskirts of Rock-hampton, to cater for the region’s burgeon-ing mining and industrial sector.

CQ Intermodal Logistics Hub (CQILH) chair Frank Munnich said the floods have simply brought the issue front of mind for the region.

“There is now an acknowledgement of the fact that these floods aren’t going to go away, they are going to continue to happen and we need to do something to immunise ourselves from the impacts,” he said.

“The new hub could be built in such a way that it is flood free by re-addressing the distribution methods of road and rail.”

“Some sections may need to be raised to ensure that every time we have a flood the highway is not cut to the south and west of Rockhampton.”

Mr Munnich said the hub could also have a significant cold storage facility to store fresh supplies.

“When the floods hit we were down to as little as two days supply in this whole region because trucks were isolated.”

Mr Munnich said now was the ideal time to re-think the future of transport and distribution in central Queensland.

“We are hoping people will find it even more valuable to do this work now,” he said.

“We do not need to start from scratch, but co-ordinate all the hard work that has been done in the past.”

Three tenders have been received by the CQILH to complete the initial work on a pre-feasibility study for the project.

QUEENSLAND’S new mines minister wants to visit flood-affected mines in the Bowen Basin to understand the impact of December’s deluge on production.

Almost six weeks after the flooding rains, the Queensland Resources Council (QRC) says that only 13 per cent of the state’s 57 coal mines are back to full production.

More than 80 per cent are operating under restrictions, and eight per cent are yet to resume normal operations.

The former infrastructure and planning minister Sterling Hinchliffe has taken over the the mines portfolio in a cabinet reshuf-fle announced last week.

Mr Hinchliffe said he was well aware the industry was hurting.

“I am very keen to visit flood affected mines for myself and see those people who are dealing with getting these operations up and running.”

“We are working very closely with companies to determine how we can best work together to get these mines back into production.”

Thirty-four coal mines have been grant-ed temporary permits to pump water out of flooded pits since December, and anoth-er 10 have applications pending with the Department of Environment and Resource Management (DERM).

The industry has been critical of the new permit system for de-watering in deal-ing with the breadth of the flood crisis in central Queensland.

There has been frustration at the speed of processing, and concern the situation could worsen if more heavy falls breach levee banks and dam infrastructure jeopardising mine safety and contaminating waterways.

Mr Hinchliffe said he is willing to listen to industry concerns.

“I have only been in the job a few days but I know this is a hot issue and that’s why it is important for me to get out and see things first hand.”

The QRC estimates the floods crisis has cost the industry between $5 and $9 billion in lost production, and could see royalties plummet by up to $700 million.

“I am very keen to visit flood affected mines for myself and see those people who are dealing

with getting these operations up and running.”

New mines minister to see flood damage first hand

“The new hub could be built in such a way that it is flood free by re-addressing the distribution methods of road and rail.”

CENTRAL Queensland and the Coalfields could experience wet weather right through until the end of spring, according to forecasters.

While the wettest month of the year is drawing to a close, the Weather Channel’s senior meteorologist Dick Wittaker said CQ is not out of the woods yet.

“While it looks as though the La Nina is weakening a little, certainly we’re still in the wet season,” he told Shift Miner.

Dick Whittaker played a key role in keeping Queenslanders up-to-date during the recent flood and cyclone crisis, through his channel’s coverage of the extraordinary weather conditions.

“Because it’s such a strong system the effects will be felt another couple of months yet, taking us out of summer and through to April possibly extending into May,” Mr Whittaker said.

While the Coalfields escaped the wrath of Cyclone Yasi, the region is still recovering from the December/January deluge.

But Mr Whitaker said another cyclone was still a possibility.

“Certainly the La Nina’s influence may felt longer that it normally would, and I wouldn’t be game to say there’s no chance of a cyclone just yet,” he said.

It is a sentiment echoed by the Bureau of Meteo-rology, which has stated there is a 60 to 75 per cent chance of above median rainfall from February to April for the northern region of Queensland.

MORE WiLD WEATHER ON CARDS FOR CQ


106th EDITION. 2011arOuNd TOwN

RED CARPET EVENT

WorkPac and Curragh hosted a day of free

movies at the Blackwater International Coal Centre

in February. The result was 106 happy kids who turned up to the movies

with their parents to watch their pick of three 3D films. Free popcorn,

soft drink, balloons and a sausage were also part of

the fun-filled family day.

www.shiftminer.comBUY THIS AND MANY OTHER IMAGES AT

Shift Miner magazine – bringing the mining community closer together

Holding a social event you want photographed? Call the Shift Miner office on 4921 4333 to let us know. You can also give our office a bell if you’d like a copy of any of the photos in this edition.


106th EDITION. 2011

Got somethinG to share? send us your text messages or phone photos to 0428 154 653 or email to [email protected]

Our story about some miners defrauding Centrelink caused an angry response from readers:

That’s just plain wrong. Why don’t peo-ple have some common decency about them? F.T, Emerald

Anyone who works in mining shouldn’t need to be getting any money out of tax-payers. It’s just ridiculous. S.P, Mackay

As a taxpayer it just makes me so angry, ripping off everyone just to be greedy. E.D, Rockhampton

Blackwater’s stance against huge mining camps in town is also a hot topic:

If camps are built away from town there’ll be no impact - good or bad - on local business. It cuts both ways. Frank, Emerald

It seems like if you choose to live in a camp at the moment you are the enemy of small towns. It’s just crazy. We have a right to choose where we want to live too. D.T, Sunshine Coast

Little towns need to stand up for themselves or it will be too late. T.R, Moranbah

Many have been impressed by the QMRS workers who have helped at Pike River:

It’s a job that no-one would want to do. So thank you. Their families must be so grateful. M.R, Moranbah

Just wanted to pass on all my best to those who worked on Pike River. R.S, Gladstone

Anyone for fishing? Our Bait Shop Banter column keeps you in the know:

You’re not wrong about Boyne River it is fishing like crazy! P.T, Gladstone

Been on Awoonga all day. Nothin. E.J, Rockhampton on the lack of barra at Awoonga

SHIFT MINERMonday 14th February 105 Edition 2011

The Queensland mining community’s best source of local news

M A G A Z I N E

The Partners:

John Taylor - LL.B

Sharon Smith - BEc/LL.B Hons

Craig Worsley - LL.B

Greg Carroll

PERSONAL INJURY CLAIMS

Mining Accidents

Work Accidents

Motor Vehicle Accidents

Insurance/TPD Claims

CONVEYANCING ESTATE L

AW COMMERCIAL

LAW Phone 4957 2

944 Fax 4957 2016

www.taylors-solicitors.com.au

email: [email protected]

om.au

Level 2/ 17 Brisbane Street

Mackay

TAYLORS

SOLICITORS

(SPQs excepted)$1.00

NewsHave your say

on Blackwater’s

future » page 4

News

Cougar bites back

in court » page 5

NewsIndian interest in the

Galilee » page 5

NewsA � rst-hand account

of the Pike River

recovery » page 8

Around Town

A Coal� elds full of

Kiwis » page 12

Money Matters

Mackay’s mining

businesses con� dent

» page 23

Locally Owned and Operated - www.shiftminer.com

CENTRELINK is investigating claims that

miners are legally separating from their de

factos so they can access up to $1100/fort-

night in single parent bene� ts.

A central Queensland � nancial advisor

has told Shift Miner Magazine the loophole is

widely known in mining circles.

“Because of the nature of the shift work

a lot of these men don’t live at home most of

the time anyway,” he said.

“They are able to live at home for four

days a fortnight without Centrelink classing

it as a de facto relationship.”

» continued page 7

» The region’s latest

apprentices page 6

Centrelink

onto live away lovers

MINER FRAUD

NEW KIDS ON

THE BLOCK

stuff to the editor

STuff TO ThE EdiTOr

“Bogged loader”Sent in anonymously

SEEN SOMETHING WE HAVEN’T?

PRIZES FOR THE BEST MINING PHOTOS.TAKE IT ON YOUR PHONE OR CAMERA AND SEND IT IN

Text to 0428 154 653Email [email protected]

Tune into the Michael J. Breakfast show

from 7:35 am every Monday for 4RO's CQ Mining Update, with special guest Angus

from Shift Miner.

Michael Bailey - Weekdays 5am - 9amBreakfast

Greg Cary - Weekdays 9am -12pmMornings

Alan Jones - Weekdays 1pm - 2pmAfternoons

www.4ro.com.au SALES ENQUIRIES: (07) 4920 2000

NEWS, TALK ANDTHE MUSIC YOU LOVE


106th EDITION. 2011fair diNKuM

IN AUSTRALIA - The small town of Speed, in outback Victoria, has renamed itself Speedkills - in a bid to curb road accidents.

While the town only has a popu-lation of 45, it is hoping it can make a real impact on thousands of drivers.

Facebook has been used to promote the idea, and now more 34,000 are behind the town’s goal of slowing peo-ple down on the roads.

The name change will only exist for the month of March - and then it will just go back to plain on Speed.

IN INDIA - if you thought a life-time’s commitment to one woman was enough (or man for that matter) meet Ziona Chana.

He’s a 66-year-old Indian who has 39 wives, 94 children and 33 grandchildren.

That’s more than the population of some remote Queensland towns.

Chana is a man who can boast that he married 10 women in one year - and even at the ripe old age of 66 is still looking for more.

It won’t surprise you to hear that Chaha is also the the head of a reli-gious sect - named after himself - which allows polygamy.

ACROSS THE WORLD - if you thought rap music did funny things to your mind, you could be onto something.

Experts are warning that rapper Kanye West’s latest video could trigger epileptic seizures.

The music video All of the Lights uses

flashing imagery that despite the warnings has already been watched on Youtube millions of times across the globe.

The UK charity Eplilepsy Action has warned it could be dangerous.

“We are doing all we can to warn people who may be affected not to watch it ... we feel it is unfortunate-ly very likely that people may have already been affected,” it has warned.

IN AUSTRALIA - Cyclone Yasi didn’t just wipe bananas off the menu.... but also marijuana.

According to the Cairns Post, the gale-force winds which destroyed for-est areas also ruined drug crops - or exposed them.

“We would expect that a lot of the cannabis would have been destroyed,” local police told the paper.

“The surrounding foliage would no longer be providing cover and con-cealment to assist the cultivation of the plants.”

IN BRAZIL - A woman in Brazil says she was shocked to find an alliga-tor hiding behind her sofa after heavy rains flooded her house.

She says she was alerted to the alli-gator’s presence by her son, who was patting the animal’s head.

The woman snatched the child away and called the fire brigade, who trapped the one-and-a-half-metre long reptile.

Firefighters in the town of Parauape-bas say the family was lucky the alliga-tor was not hungry.

Fair DinkuM!

Experts are warning that rapper Kanye West’s latest video could trigger epileptic seizures.

Neil, Please don’t proposition your girl-

friend and all her friends for an orgy, I can guarantee it won’t pan out well. If you’re really unhappy with this girl you are just going to have to sit her down and explain the reasons you don’t want to be with her, I’m quite certain she can’t force you to date her. Drive your point home, and she’ll get the message.

Susan

Dear Frank,

I’ve been seeing this girl for a few

months now and things just really

aren’t working out the way I’d hoped.

I’ve tried to break up with her before,

but she doesn’t seem to be able to

accept the fact that I don’t want

to be with her. How can I end this

relationship once and for all?

Neil, Clermont

Dear Neil,This is a problem I’m all too famil-iar with. Once women get a taste of Frank they become addicted - I can’t help it - I’m like heroin for the fair-er sex. It’s a blessing and a curse. I’ve had to let a lot of girls down easy, and some not so easy. On more than one occasion I’ve invited a woman on a road trip for the sole purpose of leaving her stranded in the mid-dle of nowhere. My conscience actu-ally got the better of me with respect to this technique, so I struck up a deal with a nice fellow in rural New South Wales who promised to pick the girls up and take them home safely after I dropped them off. I think his name was Ivan.

In any case, how you end your relationship is heavily dependent on how you want her to feel towards you afterwards. If you’re the type of guy who likes to be friends with all your ex-girlfriends, it’s a bit trickier, you

need to end the relationship in a way that’s blameless; I recommend faking your own death. All you’ll need is a mannequin, a set of your clothes, and a large explosion of some kind. Your girlfriend will think you’re dead, and subsequently move on. In the mean-time you’ve grown a moustache (for the purposes of disguise, not to men-tion the rugged charm associated with it) and are living, free, clear and blameless.

Conversely, if you’re the kind of guy that doesn’t mind hurting a few feelings then you open yourself up to a world of incredibly effective break up techniques. Try selling your girl-friend’s underwear to prison inmates, that’ll start a fight for sure. If you want to go straight for the brass ring how-ever, there is one surefire way to gain the disapproval of your girlfriend, and that is to make her friends dislike you. There are a number of ways you can do this, but by far the most effec-tive is the spontaneous orgy proposi-tion. Wait until your girlfriend invites her friends over for a girl’s night, then present yourself to the group naked and suggest an orgy. They’ll be so dis-gusted that they’ll berate your girl-friend until she breaks up with you. On the other hand, if they’re all into it you’ve secured yourself bragging rights for a lifetime, it’s a flawless technique. I really should start charg-ing people for this advice

Frank

If you have a question for Frank and Susan Email Us at: [email protected]

Sensible Susan

Frank the Tank’s “Streakin” good love advice

SHIFT MINER MAGAZINE 2011 NRL FOOTY TIPPING COMPETITION

To enter this competition simply contact us on: 0749 214 333 or [email protected] Cost of entry is $25 per person and we will be announcing our full list of prizes in our Monday 28th February edition.

Don’t miss out on your chance to win some fantastic prizes as well as being crowned our inaugural 2011 Footy Tipping Champion.

MATE VS MATE MINE VS MINEIt’s time to find out who is Central Queensland’s top tipper by entering our Shift Miner Magazine

Footy Tipping Competition. With the NRL season just weeks away we are putting the call out to all

punters, mining crews and general footy fantatics in the Bowen Basin reigon to join our footy tipping

competition for a chance to win great prizes including a TRIP TO THE 2011 NRL GRAND FINAL!


HOUSE FOR SALE

Glendale Relocatable home, 13.2m x 7.2m, 2 x

bedroom, main with ensuite, plenty of kitchen

cupboards, wall oven, and ceramic glass cook top,

raked ceiling in large lounge/dining, 2 x split system

a/c, excellent cond, Rockhampton

$115,000 ono

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3208 cat deisel. 500l fuel. Cruise 13 knots.

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0409491024 $59,000 neg

BIKE FOR SALE

Harley Davidson 2005

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ph.0407 491 388

HOUSE FOR RENTAirlie Beach Holiday

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0402 035 217.or 49487900

BOAT FOR SALE

1973 Cruiser for sale 40” Spotted Gum

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$45,000 Ono0418 988 126

BOAT FOR SALEMustang 3200SE,

Sportscruiser, Yr03, lth 9.75mtr, 4.3 GXI Volvo Pentas, stern

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Dry stored, exc cond, Sea Pen Available

$115,000 0407 138 822

BOAT FOR SALE1981 Yamaha Sloop

”Hummingbird”Length 9.0M. Beam 3.2m. Draft 1.75M.Furling head sail.

main sail.Yanmar Diesel 3YM20

21HP - installed 2006 - 260 hours.

Sleeps 6. Good cond. Rosslyn Bay Marina.

Price $51,000BOB 0410 700 814

JETSKI FOR SALE2008 Kawasaki

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$17,000 ONO0418 185 339

CAR FOR SALEMonaro HG/SS

Chev,308,3 speed auto,10 blt diff, polished 600

holley, elecrtic blue holley fuel

pump,elect windows,dual exhaust,19 inc

mags,new battery -leads,

$38500 ono, 0439872215

CAR FOR SALEHQ 1972 Holden

sedan - GTS Replica. Currently has a

modified 186 motor,runs well, sounds

great, straight body, partly restored.

Selling with 308 motor (was running),

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$7990 ono Ph 0411367777.

BOAT FOR SALE

480 coastrunner CV,,

fully registered until

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honda 4 stroke,,boat

and motor have only

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0429 841 205

HOBBY FARM FOR SALEVictoria

2.5 acres Fully fenced, cleared with pasture.

Bitumen road and Phone to front gate. Power avail.

Prim and Sec School, Nursing Center, Shops

less than 15min.$55,000

Colin Elders OMEO 0429 350 500

RIMS FOR SALE

4 x 16 inch Chrome

mags - 3 with Falken

225/5/R16 tyres (50%

wear left).

Near new rims - New

price was $1700

Selling Price

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Phone 0411367777.

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extensive irrigation. Grow anything. Choice blocks.

$550,000 house Block

or $900,000 the lot. Ph:0749791384

BIKE FOR SALE

Honda Goldwing (Luxury

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Reg March 08, Full Log

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As new condition,Tow

Bar, UHF Radio, Carry

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at Airlie Beach

0405 180 724

CAR FOR SALE

Ford BA sedan 2003/GT

kit,6cyl,193.000kms,

lowered suspension,

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and bluetooth, this car

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Honda Blackbird 1100

24,000km, Tinted

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m. 0417 767 454

ACRES FOR SALE

HOME HILL, 7.94 HA

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trees) Absolute river

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49827848

0407654765

CAR FOR SALE

2006 Hyundai

Accent, 9 Months

Warranty, Registered

til October 20111,

31,000k\’s, VGC.

49 285 610

CARAVAN FOR SALE16’ Jayco pop top

caravan, single beds,new curtains/ 3 way

fridge/ tyres, gas stove/oven, r/o awning with sides, RWC, gas

certificate, always kept under cover, $15,500. (07) 4922 5037 or 0418 879 284

CAR FOR SALEPRADO GRANDE 08

Diesel, Auto, Leather Int, S/Roof, Centre

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CAR FOR SALE2005 Toyota Land-

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PASTURE FOR SALE

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Reach 20,000 miners

www.shiftminer.com


106th EDITION. 2011

Shift MinerHandy 15A blank gridShiftMInerHandyblank.pdf©Lovatts Publications 2010

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

9 10

11

12 13

14 15 16

17 18

19 20 21

22 23

24 25 26

27 28

29 30

69 #MUIDEM

9 8 5 22 5

5 7 85 1

8 6 1 53 8

1 2 66 9

2 1 8 4

1. Joined forces, ... up

2. Olympic second

3. Shinbone

4. Flaw

6. Abnormally

7. Non-professionals

8. Released from obligation

11. At one time

15. Striped brown gem (5’1,3)

17. Crushing (fly)

18. Alert

20. Sodium bicarbonate, baking ...

21. Small carnivorous mammals

22. Chicken-feed granule

23. Throwaway lines

26. On a par

ACROSS 1. Lab jar (4,4)

5. Deputy vicar

9. Improvised (2-6)

10. Gentle

12. Altitude

13. Exhaust (3,2)

14. Inscribe

16. Grow

19. Whines persistently

21. Paths

24. Determined person

25. Circle widths

27. Pictures

28. Bewitched

29. Removed innards

30. Cuts off

DOWN

SHIFT MINERHandy Cross 1952 - (15A grid)ShiftMinerHandy102s. pdf© Lovatts Publications 26/11/2010

H E A D A C H E R E M A N DA B C O P N RR E J O I C E D S I N G L YB E D D A L E CO C C A S I O N S E N R O LR T W A P I E

A N O N P E T U N I AA V E I G ND O O R W A Y W I C KU L S A E F AL I A R S M E A N D E R E DA T T S K R I HT R I B A L L E B A N E S EE L N S M N RD R E A D S S T R A D D L E

# 94 3 2 5 4 6 9 1 8 79 8 6 2 7 1 4 5 34 1 7 3 5 8 6 9 26 3 8 7 1 5 2 4 91 4 9 8 3 2 5 7 67 5 2 6 9 4 3 1 88 6 1 5 2 7 9 3 45 7 3 9 4 6 8 2 12 9 4 1 8 3 7 6 5

LAST EDITION’S SOLUTIONS

Hal loved his family. He carried a photo of them with him, all the time. It was because he loved them that he agreed to his wife Jody’s pleas to move them all to Mackay. Emerald had been a great place to live, as far as Hal was concerned. He’d made some great mates there. But Jody’s friends and family were in Mackay, and she really wanted the kids to go to school there.

“Besides,” said Jody, “with twelve hour shifts you’re not really at home when you’re working. You could just drive out from Mackay, work your tour, and then come home after your last shift.”

It made a lot of sense. He really only did sleep and eat at home during his tour. Lots of others did the drive-in drive-out thing. Anyway, he liked the coast. So, they moved.

Hal found his tours to be more lonely then he’d thought he would. It was that hour or so when he got to the apartment and wound down before falling asleep. He missed the quick catch-ups with Jody, and looking in on the kids in their beds. He still fell asleep soon enough, and when Hal fell asleep, he was dead to the world. He missed them all when he woke up, too. It was like a dull ache; a longing to be somewhere else. It didn’t really make much sense. When they were all in the same house he’d only ever got up and dressed in the dark anyway. Still, he’d known that they were there, at home.

On day-shifts, the drive out to the mine in the pre-dawn dark-ness always helped Hal to clear his head. It was his favourite time of the day. Sometimes he’d think about the work ahead, preparing himself for the day. Sometimes he’d think about his family. Some-times, fishing.

The end of each tour ended with two or three night shifts, depend-ing on where he was in the roster. He had a kind of feeling of expec-tation, driving out to the mine in the evenings for his night shifts. It was almost time for his days off; almost time to go back home.

It wasn’t the night shifts them-selves that Hal liked. In fact, Hal hated working nights. What he liked was knowing that he would soon be going home to his family.

What he didn’t like was the effort it took to stay awake. He loathed that time from about three to four in the morning, when his body craved a warm bed; but instead he was two hundred and fifty metres underground, putting up roof-bolts or driving a shuttle-car.

For Hal, the next hardest part of night shift was the drive home. The drives back to Emerald wasn’t too bad. While some blokes felt better the more night shifts they did in a row, it only seemed to get worse for Hal. By the last shift of his tour, he seemed to be runing on adrenaline and willpower.

It was willpower that made Hal drive straight home to Mackay after his last shift. He didn’t want to have another daytime sleep by himself in his Emerald apartment. He just wanted to get home. The mine was half an hour in the right direction anyway. As the great philosopher Meatloaf once said, “Like a bat out of hell, I’ll be gone when the morning comes.”

Hal worked out ways to stay awake and stay on the road on that long, tired trip home. He’d turn the radio on or played a CD, loud. He’d turn the air-conditioner onto freezing, or sometimes open a window. He would stop at the servo outside Moranbah, scratch-ing his scalp and rubbing his face. He’d get an iced coffee from the fridge packed full of them, and then hit the road again. Next stop: Nebo. If he found himself drift-ing off, he’d pull over for a minute and run around the car. Hal had it worked out.

After six months, the car pretty much drove itself home. Hal cut out the Nebo stop, and sometimes Moranbah too. He got better at pushing himself through those sleepy moments. He’d focus. He’d talk to himself. He’d think about Jody and the kids. He’d keep going, going, going. Home.

An elderly couple towing their caravan with an old Landcruiser were the first on the scene where Hal’s ute had been split in half by a huge gum tree about twenty metres from the road. The ambu-lance officers weren’t able to revive him. There were no skid marks, and tests showed his brakes were working fine.

After six years, his family still miss him very much.

by Bernard S. Jansen5 minute fiction

D ay s O f f

Bernard S. Jansen is 31, married has three young boys. He lives in Emerald, works as an engineer at a local coal mine and is active in his

local church. Read more of Bernard’s writing online at surgebin.blogspot.com or email him at [email protected]

Off ShifT


106th EDITION. 2011Off ShifT

FISHING IN GLADSTONE

The creeks and rivers are fishing so well around Gladstone at the moment that peo-ple are travelling from as far a field as Bris-bane to throw their lures in.

The prodigious amount of rain that has fallen caused Awoonga Dam to spill over, and the Boyne River is fishing marvellous-ly as a result.

“It is fishing very, very, very well all the way down to the mouth,” said Gazza from Pat’s Tackle World.

Barra is being caught mainly using sur-face poppers, and the Calliope River is also fishing well using lures and bait.

But stay out of Awoonga Dam for now - it is deathly quiet with virtually nothing being caught.

“Look with all the rain there is a lot of dead grass and vegetation in the dams and

all the oxygen in the water shocks the fish a bit,” said Gazza.

“But when it settles down it will be fish-ing very nicely by winter, short term pain for long term gain.”

Off shore is also fishing well, with the weather finally letting people out wide.

Red emperor, trout and even tuna are about, although the tuna is a bit patchy.

FISHING IN ROCKHAMPTONLast weekend was a beauty for getting out wide, with the Rosslyn Bay car park full to capacity with eager fishermen out on the water early.

Many were chasing mackerel and trout around Baron Island, and having great success.

While our regular fishing guru Adrian from the Secret Spot at Yeppoon has been enjoy-ing some fly fishing in New Zealand, Lee has

been holding up the fort back at the shop.She said Corio Bay is still a hot spot for

crabs and barra, but the prawns have start-ed to die down a bit.

“We’d been hoping people might be able to get out wide again this weekend, but the weather is looking a bit blowly at this stage,” said Lee.

Fingers crossed...

FISHING IN MACKAY

There’s no good way of saying it, the fishing in Mackay has been worse than average for months.

Bruce from Nashy’s Compleat Angler said 25 knot winds had been blowing for weeks, and there had barely been a window for getting out wide.

But the Gooseponds is producing some barra for those who want to give it a go.

“A few kids are out there bashing a lot

of small to middle sized barra in the Goose-ponds, using soft plastics.” Bruce said.

Crabs are the one saving grace for region, but even they are starting to go off the boil somewhat.

“We’ve had a really good run of crabs since Christmas, but it has started to taper off a bit.”

“But keep your pots set you should con-tinue to get a feed through March.”

Prawn catches will also continue for the next couple of months - all creeks are produc-ing good numbers, there are no stand out spots.

Bruce is hoping once the weather breaks it will a bounty out wide.

“Once it all stabilises people want to get out on the smaller set of tides and hunt the shoal areas around the inshore islands.”

Bait shop Banter

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tide times Feb/MarMon 28 Tue 29 Wed 2 Thu 3 Fri 4 Sat 5 Sun 6

Time Ht Time Ht Time Ht Time Ht Time Ht Time Ht Time Ht

0014 1.38 0107 1.18 0147 1.03 0221 0.93 0251 0.88 0317 0.86 0344 0.88

0641 3.92 0726 4.06 0803 4.13 0834 4.14 0902 4.12 0928 4.06 0954 3.97

1301 1.12 1342 0.97 1417 0.88 1448 0.83 1517 0.81 1543 0.81 1607 0.84

1902 3.40 1944 3.58 2019 3.70 2051 3.78 2119 3.84 2145 3.89 2213 3.90

0210 1.27 0257 1.06 0336 0.96 0409 0.94 0437 0.96 0504 1.01 0529 1.10

0827 5.49 0908 5.63 0943 5.65 1013 5.61 1040 5.53 1105 5.41 1128 5.25

1501 1.07 1539 0.96 1611 0.94 1640 0.95 1706 0.97 1728 1.00 1750 1.06

2052 4.71 2129 4.86 2202 4.94 2230 4.99 2257 5.04 2322 5.06 2348 5.04

Mon 7 Tue 8 Wed 9 Thu 10 Fri 11 Sat 12 Sun 13

Time Ht Time Ht Time Ht Time Ht Time Ht Time Ht Time Ht

0412 0.94 0441 1.07 0510 1.24 0543 1.45 0024 3.49 0122 3.34 0247 3.30

1019 3.83 1044 3.65 1109 3.42 1135 3.20 0625 1.68 0736 1.86 0923 1.87

1630 0.92 1654 1.04 1715 1.21 1736 1.39 1212 2.97 1325 2.77 1516 2.72

2241 3.87 2311 3.78 2344 3.64 1810 1.58 1926 1.77 2128 1.76

0555 1.25 0014 4.96 0041 4.80 0112 4.60 0154 4.39 0309 4.22 0500 4.32

1151 5.01 0622 1.48 0651 1.76 0725 2.06 0816 2.35 0950 2.52 1150 2.30

1810 1.18 1214 4.73 1238 4.40 1306 4.06 1351 3.72 1531 3.47 1740 3.62

1832 1.36 1855 1.59 1925 1.84 2013 2.11 2154 2.27 2348 2.04

If you have a good photo or fishing yarn

send it through to our resident bait chucker- [email protected]

WEEK 1 - the “muggy” conditions in the Coalfields peaked with the hottest day this summer on Monday 21 February. Most places in the Coalfields sweltered at 50 - 52C in the direct sun, while the shade temperature was 37C at Collinsville, 36.7C Emerald and 36.4C Thangool. Rolleston recorded 36.6C (0.1C below highest) and Moranbah 35.1C (0.5C below highest). Then followed the spectacular storms that cooled things off, mainly in the south eastern Coalfields and Capricornia. Some of the rainfall totals (mm) of note in a 5-10 hour period on 21st Feb: La Palma 62, Echo Hills 59, Kenbula 57, Taroom 54, Gladstone 50, Coolmaringa 30 and Westwood 21. Cooler comfortable breeze followed gradually warming over the weekend.

Very warm to hot and “muggy” early in the week with late storms developing Thr/Fri. Watch the Monsoon Trough (MT) in the north. If cyclone “Errol” winds up off the WA Kimberley coast it may help the MT south with rain along the north Tropical Coast to Mt. Isa

verging into the northern Coalfields. More likely Thr; but could surprise on Wed.

Boaties! After the “big blow” last week winds become light to moderate for most of the week. Starting ESE’ly then tending humid NE’ly (5-10 knots) with monsoon type showers by Wed north of Sarina. Then cloud develops from the north just as a south easterly surge hits southern Queensland on Sun. It’s possible a small low may form somewhere in the vicinity of the Swains Reef.

Week 2 - the SOI continues to sit in record territory with a +20 value last week. The MT - after sitting near Cape York for the past few weeks is showing signs of moving further south. Possibly just north of the 18-20 degrees south latitude (Cardwell- Bowen). If the south east surge arrives; heralded by more spectacular storms early in the week, then conditions may be rather comfortable afterwards. This (fingers crossed) should force the Coral Sea low away from the coast. Watch for further development in the coming days.

YOuR WEATHER FORECASTWith Mike Griffin

Hottest day tHis summer followed by storm


106th EDITION. 2011

YOuR WEATHER FORECAST

Off ShifT

The Bertoli story - a spaghetti westernFUNNILY enough, the name Bertoli, is Italian.

And nothing puts a smile on my seem-ingly un-Italian face than reading about the plight of my spaghetti-eating forefathers.

Three generations ago, a boat load of Bertoli’s from the Veneto region in North-ern Italy set sail from the motherland, bound for all the adventure and opportuni-ties Australia had to offer… sort of.

They did indeed set sail - after some gen-tle coaxing from the French Marquis de Rays – to establish a community in a phan-tom paradise of the Pacific named La Nouv-elle France; or what we now know as Papua New Guinea.

Dreams of a new life quickly turned sour and after five months the migrants set sail once again, this time bound for New Caledonia.

Long story short, the penal colony also proved somewhat of a drag and, hearing of their plight, the then premier of New South Wales Sir Henry Parkes sent a ship to pick em up and bring em down under.

Which brings us to the area known as New Italy in Northern New South Wales.

It was here that the country’s first real

refugees began a new life of farming and cultivation on the fertile banks of the Rich-mond River.

Said inhabitants are now long gone but New Italy has been transformed into a quaint little rest area, including museum and café, on the side of the Pacific Highway, commemorating the families that helped shape the country side south of the border.

The walls of the museum are plastered with rusted farming tools and primitive machinery of bygone days, while glass dis-play cupboards pay homage to the families whose blood, sweat and tears helped build the area into the thriving agricultural hub it is today… Bertoli’s included.

The family crest takes pride of place beside stained black and white photos of countless relatives, including my great grandfather Borto Bertoli (greatest name ever just quietly!).

After spending hours quietly studying the countless facts and photo boards and swelling with family pride, I too bid farewell to New Italy, determined to share the story of my Italian forefathers… no matter how Irish I look!

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Back in August, former Shift Miner staffer Lincoln “Linx” Bertoli decided to ditch the comforts of a steady pay packet and go and live the dream. Lucky bugger. For the rest of us stuck working to earn our keep in this cruel world,

Linx will now taunt us with a regular column in “Off Shift”. If you can’t be there yourself, you might as well live vicariously through someone else... and just hope something unfortunate happens to him out there on the open road...


106th EDITION. 2011YOur hEalTh

Serves 4

This dish is a slightly spicy take on an old Australian ‘Fish and Chip’ shop favourite. The spice in this recipe comes from the combination of paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, black pepper, cayenne pepper, oregano and thyme, that makes up the Cajun spice mix.

INGREDIENTS:

4 whole squid tubes¼ cup Cajun seasoning

Chopped parsley to garnishOil for deep fryingLemon wedge and a good quality tartar sauce or aioli for serving

METHOD:

Slice one side of the squid

the inside of the squid tubes

is facing up and point the tip of the tubes to the top of the cutting board. Slice about ¾ of the way through the squid tubes diagonally from top to bottom, both ways, to make a diamond scored pattern. Slice the squid tubes into 2cm strips, cutting from the tip to the bottom.

In a mixing bowl, combine the

together. Toss the calamari through until coated. Heat the oil in a large deep saucepan on a very high heat, until the oil starts shimming. Shake any excess

into the heated oil for no longer than 2 minutes, or till lightly golden. Remove from the oil and drain on paper towel before serving.

Place onto a plate to serve with a sprinkle of chopped parsley, lemon wedge and serving sauce of choice.

Zest Eatery Open 4.00pm to 8.00pm daily

Cajun Spiced Calamari

COPPABELLA | DYSART | MIDDLEMOUNT | MORANBAH | NEBO

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For those too busy or embarrassed to ask the important questions about their healthEXPERT ADVICE

Tammy Farrell is a registered nurse, nutritionist and author of ‘The Real Man’s Toolbox – A DIY Health Manual for Men’. Tammy grew up in the Hunter Valley with two brothers in the local coal mines. In 2007, she started to give health talks in the Hunter, and that’s when she began compiling the book, helping hundreds of men answer questions about their bodies.

Dear Tammy,

Thank you for your last article. It is interesting that many people tell you to exercise tostay fit, which I did as a young bloke, but now my knees really give me grief. Could you tell me how certain products like glucosamine and fish oil can actually help.

Cheers, Steve.

Hi Steve,

Thank you for your query. Yes it is certainly an interesting point you haveraised, it is often due to the old ‘wear and tear’ of our joints and too often it is our knees that can suffer.

A supplement such as fish oil is an omega-3 and is helpful for the joints as it works tominimise inflamma-tion to your joint, otherwise known as an anti-inflammatory. Remember you can also gain quality omega-3s by eating real foods such as oily fish like salmon or mackarel, or canola oil and walnuts to name a few.

Glucosamine (derived from shell-fish) and chondroitin (derived from shark cartilage) is often prescribed for those with osteoarthritis, help-ing to relieve pain in the joint. If there has been any wear and tear of the cartilage which in extreme cases can cause bone to rub on bone (ouch!) which can become extremely painful, making it diffi-cult to move. For those of you with an allergy to shellfish, glucosamine iscertainly not suitable for you.

These two supplements are often effective when used together in the early stages of cartilage damage, slowly helping the cartilage present to rebuild. It is certainly recom-mended to take this when joint problems start to develop rath-er then many years down the track when there is very little cartilage remaining to build on.

For those of you on warfarin, it may not be suitable to be taking these types of supplements, so please talk to your GP about their interaction with other medications.

Remember to getting moving... and to stay healthy, stay informed.


106th EDITION. 2011MONEY MaTTErS

THE Reserve Bank governor has called for more national saving as the second phase of Australia’s biggest mining boom since fed-eration unfolds.

Speaking at university conference in Vic-toria last week, governor Glenn Stevens acknowledged that incomes had to rise to some extent because of the mining boom.

But he has warned that while this boom might be large and long, it would eventually come to an end, and Australia should make preparations for that time.

“The main thing we know about the cur-rent episode is that it looks very large,” he said.

“Global consumption of coal has increased by about 50 per cent over the past decade; consumption of iron ore has increased by 80 per cent since 2003.”

“The number of people living in cities in those two countries, especially China, has risen by over 250 million, which implies having to expand or create cities (with the attendant buildings and infrastructure) to house the entire population of Australia more than 10 times over.”

“Or alternatively, to house the populations of France, Germany and Japan combined.”

“On the other hand, resources compa-nies in Australia and beyond are rushing to take advantage of the current increase in prices by bringing new capacity on line.”

He said there were many questions for Australia as it struggled to meet this new demand.

“Will this increase in supply be just suffi-cient to match demand? Will it be too little? Or too much?”

“The lessons of history, moreover – that booms don’t go on indefinitely – are also too great to ignore.”

On balance, the governor predicts the current mining boom will continue for the foreseeable future.

However, he has warned industries asso-ciated with mining that they will need to increase productivity.

According to the governor, labour and other shortages will push up costs, so busi-nesses will have to become more produc-tive to maintain profits.

Boom two and you Flooded, no insurance... but Emerald business backEMERALD’S mining services sector has shrugged off the impact of a largely uninsured flood disaster and is back trading as normal.

A large number of businesses were bad-ly affected by the floods over Christmas, which inundated key industrial areas and retail precincts.

Highland’s Auto Electrics and Mechani-cal owner, Martina Wenman, whose business was flooded, said the enormous effort made by small businesses should be recognised.

“Small business owners around town have done an incredible job,” she said.

“The minute the water went down, they were back working in the sheds, testing machinery, sweeping up the rubbish, deal-ing with insurance and trying to get back to doing business.”

“Most businesses in this industrial estate went under and did not get any insurance.”

Ms Wenman said said both of her insur-ers had rejected their claims.

“It has just been a real headache, but after seeing what happened in Grantham and Toowoomba and in Cyclone Yasi, we really have nothing to complain about.”

“What we all wanted was to just get back to work and be busy again, and thankfully some of the mines have been really good - and once we got access, we were back doing work with them.”

However, Emerald’s retail sector remains in limbo with one of the region’s two shopping malls still closed after exten-sive flooding.

Emerald Chamber of Commerce pres-ident, Victor Cominos, said he could foresee arguments over rent levels

when the mall does re-open.“Some shops have chosen not to reo-

pen and some of them are opening elsewhere,” he said.

“But I think the re-opening of that mall is at least six months away.”

“Centro are telling them it will be in three or four months, but they tell me they are not expecting to go back in under six.”

“There will be arguments.”“Centro is saying they won’t charge rent

until the shops re -open, but shoppers are creatures of habit, and when they go else-where for their shopping they will take a while to come back.”

“In reality you need to give tenants another six months of discounted rent to allow traffic to regenerate.”

Rockhampton plays catch upTHERE is a determined push on in Rock-hampton to link local businesses to oppor-tunities in the mining and resources sector.

The economic development manager for Capricorn Tourism Economic Devel-opment Ltd (CTEDL), Neil Lethlean, said local businesses were missing out because they were not part of well-estab-lished networks.

“Here in Rockhampton, we haven’t formed the networks that other resource centres like Mackay and Gladstone have,” he said.

“Gladstone have three or four major network or industry groups, and Mackay is probably larger again, in fact they have just set up a Bowen Basin Mining Club to fur-ther link up industry.”

“So we are playing catch up and estab-lishing linkages to industry for our local businesses, which is something that has been fairly poorly done in the past.”

In March, CTEDL will hold a two-day forum on tourism and resource sector opportunities in the region.

“It is about understanding region-al issues but also national issues and the national economy and how it is all inter-re-lated,” said Mr Lethlean.

In late March, CTEDL is also expect-ed to host a forum and workshop centred around Hancock Coal’s projects in Gali-lee Basin, and potential opportunities for local businesses.

“The workshop will help businesses real-ise what they need to do to access these opportunities, it is an advisory role more than anything.”

The two-day tourism and econom-ic development forum will be held on the March 17, 18; the date of the Hancock work-shop will be released closer to the time.

For more information call CTEDL on 4927 2055.

“Small business owners around town have done an incredible job.”

“It is about understanding regional issues but also the national economy and how it is all inter-related.”

“The lessons of history, moreover – that booms don’t go on indefinitely – are also too great to ignore.”

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